Sletten to retire

Red Wing Police Chief Tim Sletten will retire from his position at the end of October 2012. He turned in his official resignation letter to the city May 17.

“I wanted to give the city plenty of opportunity to fill the position before I left,” Sletten said.

City of Red Wing employee services director Roger Seymour said the police chief position has been posted internally. City staff will review applications and determine whether a current employee can fill the position.

“We … have a lot of senior employees that have been here a long time that are close to retirement,” Seymour said. “It makes it a little more difficult to fill the position (internally).”

If the city determines the position cannot be filled internally, it will then advertise the position externally after June 26.

Seymour said the goal is to have the new chief in place before the beginning of October. That way, Sletten said he will be able to “introduce people to who this new person is and go over how we’ve done things in the past.”

Seymour said Sletten will not be involved in the hiring process.

Sletten began his career nearly 35 years ago as a jailer/dispatcher for Goodhue County. After a year, he was hired by the city and then worked his way up to police chief in 2003.

Sletten said he becomes eligible for retirement this year.

“It’s time for a change for myself, and it’s also a time for change for the department,” Sletten said.

His final day will be Oct. 31.

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